Deeplinks Blog posts about Anonymity

TG Storytime is a free community website for transgender authors, operated by Joe Six-Pack, himself a transgender author and publisher. If you look up the registration details of Joe's domain tgstorytime.com using the WHOIS application, you get this result:

Last Thursday, David Kaye, the U.N's newest free speech watchdog, released a groundbreaking report calling upon states to promote strong encryption and anonymity. Kaye assumed the role of Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression in August 2014, and this, his first report, will be presented at the 29th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva mid-June.

His analysis comes at a key moment. The ability to communicate anonymously and to use encryption is more important than ever and the Rapporteur rightly notes that privacy is a gateway for freedom of opinion and expression, saying:

UPDATE: The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a hearing on June 22, 2016, on the SPEAK FREE Act. This comes a year after 33 organizations, including EFF, sent a letter in June 2015 to the House Judiciary Committee leadership urging them to move the SPEAK FREE Act as quickly as possible. Supporters of the bill are now seeking SLAPP victims to sign a letter to the House Judiciary Committee Chairman. If you have been a victim of a SLAPP, please consider sharing your story and signing the letter.

UPDATE: The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a hearing on June 22, 2016, on the SPEAK FREE Act. This comes a year after 33 organizations, including EFF, sent a letter in June 2015 to the House Judiciary Committee leadership urging them to move the SPEAK FREE Act as quickly as possible. Supporters of the bill are now seeking SLAPP victims to sign a letter to the House Judiciary Committee Chairman. If you have been a victim of a SLAPP, please consider sharing your story and signing the letter.

Mandatory data retention legislation is never a good idea, which is why EFF has vigorously opposed it in the United States, where Congress tried and failed to pass it in 2009. That year, two ill-conceived bills would have required all Internet providers and operators of Wi-Fi access points to keep records on Internet users for at least two years to assist police investigations. Nevertheless, governments around the world, individually, and in concert, continue to argue that the stockpiling of the private, personal data of entire populations become a global norm. It's a constant battle, but one with some clear victories, most notably in the European Union, and most recently in Paraguay.